Think Globally, Eat Locally

The Year in Review: It Takes A Village To Start A Farm

It’s hard to believe, but our first growing season is coming to an end. We went to our last farmer’s market on Thanksgiving weekend, and harvested our last CSA boxes last week. Now that the harvest is done, we’re cleaning up the garden for winter and reflecting on our adventure so far.

The Last Harvest! Fortunately for us, a warm September kept veggies growing in our field right through mid-October.

Looking back, this year has brought us many opportunities and gifts. One was the chance to work for ourselves and to create our own fledgling business. Compared to the office jobs Brad and I left, we worked a lot more for a lot less pay, but relished the newfound autonomy, creativity and variety of our work. We’ve enjoyed working outdoors in beautiful settings, and being physically active in our work (and many lifesaving swims in the lake at lunch!). We were challenged and learned constantly, developing skills not only in growing and harvesting vegetables, but in marketing and sales, communications, and business administration.

When life gives you giant 12-pound sweetmeat squash...

...farmers make convenient, meal sized squash portions for their CSA baskets. (Oh my God, did this tray weigh a lot!)

But the best part for me has been the amazing support of our community, which made this season possible, as well as fun and rewarding. When Brad and I decided in early spring to leave our steady jobs, move to the country and start an organic farm with friends, we usually prefaced the announcement with ‘We know this is totally crazy, but….’ . To my surprise, family, friends, colleagues and neighbours responded with encouragement, excitement and optimism from the get-go. Granted, certain older and wiser family members did ask, ‘What if one of you quit your job to farm, while the other one, you know, actually made some money?’ But once we explained our desire to do this together, they fully supported our decision, offering their own efforts towards our goals.

A colorful fall share.

So many people helped in so many ways to make our farm a success. Our families lent equipment, offered business advice and provided free labour. When we decided to sell seasonal shares in the farm’s produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (or CSA) model, friends, relatives, neighbours and colleagues put their money where their mouth was, paying up-front for a season of vegetables with no hard evidence they would actually receive any. These CSA members were our guinea pigs as we piloted our system of harvesting, packing and delivering baskets of veggies into Ottawa each week. They dealt with hiccups in our delivery process, new and weird vegetables, and a whole lot of swiss chard, and for this we salute them. In return, they enjoyed a full season of fresh, local, diverse and organic produce, discovering what grows seasonally in their region, and knowing exactly how, where and by whom their food was grown.

Know Your Rutabaga, Know Your Farmer.

Other friends and family came to our farmer’s market on Saturdays, often creating a little party in the parking lot. Visiting with city friends became a highlight of going to market for us, with some making the market a part of their Saturday routine. One guy walked up to our booth and turned out to be a friend of mine from high school in Winnipeg, whom I hadn’t seen or heard from in over a decade. Not only that, Scott turned out to be an avid gardener, and later rode his bike from Ottawa to Wakefield to visit our farm!

Friends visiting the market - these are some savvy squash shoppers!

On his vacation from Juniper Farm, Peter helped us bake sweetmeat squash pies, harvest veggies for market, and set up our market stall. And as if that wasn't enough for a Saturday morning....

...he then hopped on his bike and cycled all the way to Montreal!

Our core farm team was complemented by several fantastic helpers. Tara was our farm helper extraordinaire, working long hours and helping with all aspects of the farm. She also learned a lot at our place that she was able to transfer to her own bountiful garden. And she came to enjoy many new veggies, as evidenced by her mother’s surprise when she joined us for lunch at the farm and saw Tara eating… salad???

Tara brings her homegrown cherry tomatoes and raspberries to share.

We were also lucky to find our volunteer Marielle, who quickly went from a complete stranger looking to fulfill her university requirement for volunteer hours, to a capable part of our farm family. We cheered every time she called back to offer another day of help, or sometimes just showed up in the field. Then there were friends who came up for a day, or two or three, spending their leisure time helping with weeding, picking, and packing while we caught up. And of course, our resident entomologist and apiarist Chris kept the beehives buzzing in our fields.

Just... don't... make.... any....sudden....moves!!

Brad’s internship on Juniper Farm was another crucial source of support and information. Every day when Brad arrived at our farm after his day job, Tara would ask, ‘Brad, what did you learn today?’ Whatever the answer, it was sure to be replicated in our fields in the near future. The Juniper Farm team offered an essential source of farm knowledge, but also a welcoming, like-minded, and inspiring community as we adjusted to living in the country. Instead of seeing us as competition, they welcomed us as collaborators, sharing their valuable experience and networks.

Juniper Farm: The meanest, leanest, and on this day the cleanest farm team you will ever meet.

Receiving so much supportive energy has inspired us to give back to our community. In addition to providing tasty and healthy food, we’ve made efforts to build relationships with other farmers and eaters, and to educate people about our food system and the challenges facing sustainable agriculture. Through farm visits and events, blog posts and email updates, presentations and informal conversations, we’ve shared our experience and helped to connect people with food production.

Brian and Erin helped out at Feast of Fields, a yearly event that brings together local organic farmers with local chefs (and in our case, high school students) to offer a locavore smorgasbord. Brian even got his own nametag listing him as a Farmer.

Shera, Jess and Julia from the Wheely Slow Farm Tour visited us in August as part of their cross-Canada tour of sustainable farms..

After touring and filming the farm, we made salsa together, shared a potluck dinner with friends, and enjoyed a house concert by Julia and Shera (and a wicked mullet wig Jess picked up at the Rupert Mall!)

We held a wind-up BBQ for our CSA members and farm friends in September that brought together many of our supporters for some good food and good company.

A new generation of future farmers get their hands in the dirt...

... and harvests a potato the grown-ups missed!

Can't Talk. Eating.

Ron shares his first honey harvest straight from the hive. People are still talking about how delicious it was!

Former colleagues have become outside-the-office friends.... and CSA members!

A friend recently asked me if farming was financially rewarding. I laughed and told her I find it shocking how much we got paid to sit in front of a computer and send emails all day, given that most small-scale sustainable farmers can’t earn a living without off-farm income or unpaid farm labour. I can’t think of many jobs that are more important than growing food in a way that sustains people and the earth, but our system clearly doesn’t place much value on this. This is something we all need to work on (and a topic for another blog post).

But in every other way, our experience this season has been extremely rewarding, and we are grateful to everyone who contributed to it. We look forward to building on what we’ve learned this year to keep growing our farm business (pun intended). And we look forward to doing it as part of a vibrant, engaged, dedicated and hopeful community.

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One Response

Congratulations, you did it, 1st year under your belt, lots of hard work eh Brad, see you had to tighten up the belt as you wore yourself thin, stick to the overalls, they are much more fashionable in the farmers fields.
We enjoyed your success and look forword to see what it ahead for you guys at Helios in the future.